As a committed veggie and animal lover, you might expect me to back the Vegan Society's decision to drop Ecover from its list of certified products after it emerged that the company tests its some of it products on water fleas. But actually it's made me 'hopping' mad...
What concerns me is that in removing its endorsement, the vegan society is failing to recognise that anyone wanting to avoid genuinely animal-tested products will now be in less of a position to distinguish between products tested on minute insects and those whose production really does involve cruel and unnecessary testing on highly sentient mammals. I think this is downright irresponsible.
Would the same society shun a toothpaste that kills off the harmful bacteria in our mouths, or for that matter, disapprove of removing fleas and ticks from our pets? I somehow doubt it. In my opinion, this is the sort of rigid and counterproductive logic that makes if far more difficult than it should be for people to make positive changes, and frankly, gives the green movement a bad name.
